Scottish Budget: Shona Robison has just added to the sense that the SNP is out of ideas – Euan McColm

SNP rails against the damage to the economy caused by Brexit while continuing to argue that the solution is yet more constitutional upheaval

When it comes to the art of public speaking, Scottish Finance Secretary Shona Robison has all the pizzazz and charisma of a nervous child reading a book report in front of classmates. As Robison delivered her first Budget statement to Holyrood since being appointed to the finance brief by First Minister Humza Yousaf, she performed her duty in a brisk monotone, paying scant attention to the rules of punctuation. Like some experimental novel, Robison’s statement seemed to comprise one long sentence.

But listen carefully and some details could be discerned. There was, as widely trailed by government spinners, the announcement of a new tax band of 45p-in-the-pound for earnings between £75,000-£125,140. And there will be an extra penny – taking the rate to 48p – for earnings above that.

These measures, Robison told MSPs, would mean an extra £82 million in Scottish Government coffers in 2024-25. Perhaps that will be the outcome but it is not unheard of for those earning substantial sums to take steps to lighten their tax burden. Take the recent decision of former First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to set up an “artistic creation” company to handle income from earnings outside parliament after she signed a book deal with a reported £150,000 advance. Such companies see profits taxed at just 25 per cent and payments can be made to directors through dividends which aren’t subject to National Insurance.

Humza Yousaf watches as his deputy and Finance Secretary Shona Robison delivers the Scottish Budget (Picture: Andy Buchanan/AFP via Getty Images)

Robison masterplan invites unravelling

But let us imagine a wave of munificence sweeps out from the wealthy and nobody tries to game the system. That £82m is a long way from covering the £1.5 billion black-hole in Scotland’s finances identified last week by the independent economic advisory unit, the Fraser of Allander Institute.

There are other areas of the Robison masterplan that invite us to pick at them. Take, for example, her announcement that she was going to fully fund the council tax freeze announced – to the surprise of senior colleagues – by Humza Yousaf at SNP conference in October.

Robison promised £144m to allow councils to keep rates at their current levels. This is enough to cover what would have been a five per cent increase in council tax which is all well and good until one considers that a number of local authorities had planned ten per cent hikes. Can we truly say the investment of half of what councils say they need can be considered “full” funding?

Of course, much of Robison’s statement was about the misery caused by Scotland’s continued membership of the United Kingdom. The Tory government at Westminster and Brexit had conspired to make like as difficult as possible for our plucky Finance Secretary. And who would argue that those things haven’t had their impact?

But it remains remarkable that the SNP, having seen the damage caused by the upheaval of Brexit, continues to argue that the solution is yet more uncertainty caused by another constitutional battle. Shona Robison’s Budget statement was light on big ideas and worryingly vague on how some of its promises might be delivered. The sense that this SNP government is running out of puff grows stronger.